my workouts

This is more of a note to myself to remember some good workouts I put together this week:

Monday (core/abs):

20 minutes on the step mill (the escalator machine)

22 minutes on tread mill doing sprints (2 minute sprint 1 minute rest, repeat)

stair runs x 4

inclined situps with 3kg weight x 2

squats around all the benches and free weights x 2

ab workout: tie band around pole and hold in two hands extended and turn side to side x 2

ab workout: don’t have a name for it but sit on floor extend legs and upper boddy at the same time to remain balanced on your bum, retract ams and legs and remain balanced.  x 2

T pushups x 2

leg lifts x 2

Wednesday (legs):

30 minutes on step mill (speed intervals)

stair runs

single leg squats (face away from bench put on leg on bench behind you and dip down–20 each side) x 2

squats around benches and free weights x 2

bench step ups x 2

ball roll out x 2

jump squat-push ups x 2 (mountain climbers)

somethingelsethatIcan’trememberdamnit

nounset: noun-set or no-unset

Naa…it can’t be that, although it probably will be. How can the shell setting “nounset” be the cause of this weird behavior.

Two hours later, yeah, it was.

I finally decided to get tough and bring my .bashrc to the major leagues. I found a template on da ‘net that seemed promising and added some code to load settings for the intel compiler icc. What was baffling me was that when I ran my new found glorious config file it complained that certain values were not set:

</pre>
-bash: LD_LIBRARY_PATH: unbound variable
-bash: DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH: unbound variable
-bash: NLSPATH: unbound variable
-bash: MANPATH: unbound variable
-bash: INTEL_LICENSE_FILE: unbound variable
-bash: LD_LIBRARY_PATH: unbound variable
-bash: DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH: unbound variable
-bash: NLSPATH: unbound variable
-bash: MANPATH: unbound variable
-bash: INTEL_LICENSE_FILE: unbound variable
<pre>

Here are a few lines from the file I was sourcing:

</pre>
if [ -z "${LD_LIBRARY_PATH}" ]
then
 LD_LIBRARY_PATH="/opt/intel/fce/10.1.015/lib"; export LD_LIBRARY_PATH
else
 LD_LIBRARY_PATH="/opt/intel/fce/10.1.015/lib:${LD_LIBRARY_PATH}"; export LD_LIBRARY_PATH
fi

# DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH is used on MAC OS*
if [ -z "${DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH}" ]
then
 DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH="/opt/intel/fce/10.1.015/lib"; export DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH
else
 DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH="/opt/intel/fce/10.1.015/lib:${DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH}"; export DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH
fi

...
<pre>

So there was nothing wrong with this script, the options controlling execution of any script generated an error when encountering an unbound error. Note the error message, “-bash: NLSPATH: unbound variable”.  That should have been a indication what was going on.

Grrr!

no, we’re not talking

My cubical neighbor, Maureen, and I have a deal.

We don’t talk.

In the mornings if we’re there early, we don’t talk.

She put it best, “if we’re here early clearly we’re trying to get work done.”

We can have our tea (me) / coffee (her) run later and chat.  But right now we’re working.

Communication a is good thing.

I Serve No More

Right then it hit me. The basic server loop might be dead. I remember it from college quite well:

- bind()

- listen()

- accept()

- fork()

- back to accept()

A coworker was explaining how part of our system worked and it suddenly became clear that my traditional way of thinking about servers was dead. No longer was it necessary for a server to wait around, most of the time idle, for connections from users. No, instead we are now shifting, or perhaps have shifted, to on demand servers started by the client. Even better, secure on demand servers.  What’s changed you ask? Now clients can connect to the server via ssh and start up a server process that merely reads and writes stdin and stdout (& stderr).  This completely changes the game.  The server program is greatly simplified, it no longer needs to know about sockets. A minor benefit is now you don’t have to add your server entry to inetd on your UNIX system so the system will manage incoming connections. Also, the server is running under the permissions of the account the client has access to (most likely the same account as the client program).  An administrator on the server can just configure the settings of that account if they need to manage that user. No complicated authorization scheme as part of the server’s protocol–that’s taken care of for you by using ssh as your authenticating transport protocol.

Fascinating.

While the need to know sockets, TCP, IP, and UDP will always persist, there is a new powerful and simple option for writing and managing servers.

random tennis stuff

• I may have to become a Rafael Nadal fan. I don’t want to. I want Federer to win every time I see him because of his grace on court and poise off it. Not that Rafa doesn’t display the same qualities, but, well, I just like Federer’s game. Well now that Rafa seems to have Federer’s number and is completely in his head, I may have to become a Rafa fan. He is amazing. His fitness. His tenacity. His shot making ability. His cunning (excellent plan attacking Federer’s backhand with high balls and his service selection was genius). Mobility. Work ethic.
• I do feel bad for Federer. It’s not like he’s not trying. But to see him break down when accepting the runner’s up trophy was very touching and sad.
• Also sad was the way that Federer lost the 5th set. He just shouldn’t lose it that way. He made too many unforced errors and basically gave away the set. I completely agree with Patrick McEnroe that it was sad to see him lose the 5th set that way. Very sad indeed.
• DICK ENBERG SUCKS AS AN ANNOUNCER.  He kindles the same hatred…no too strong a word. Disgust? Hmm..maybe. Dislike? Too weak. I’ll go with disgust for now and may edit this later. He kindles the same disgust that Tom Ashbrook on the NPR show “On Point” does (Tom Ashbrook leads the people on the show when asking them a question–simply ask them a question and let them explain rather than you trying to sound like you know as much or more than someone who has been studying the material for 20+ years–idiot).  Dick Enberg talks too much and states the obvious. He has these pointless monologues that attempt to install drama into the event when all it really does is make him look stupid. He restates the obvious–”What fantastic court coverage by Nadal to hit the winner.” duh. This is not radio. His insipid color commentary is made stupider by comparing it to the intelligence of his colleagues Brad Gilbert, Partick McEnroe and his brother John McEnroe. Shut up Mr. Enberg and let people who know about the game talk. I can’t stand listening to you. Sometimes silence is the best way to respect the drama on the court.
• What an incredible tennis match, BTW. Great tennis. This is what the tennis world needs. I hope this inspires Federer to greater heights because right now Federer is inspiring Nadal and, despite what people thing, I don’t necessarily view this as a rivialry. Why? A rivialry requires, to me, some parity and right now Rafa is kicking his ass.
• Go Federer!